


Comfort & Snapdragons

by UnbalancedCalm



Series: We'll Stand Together (Even If The World Falls Apart) [2]
Category: Dragon Quest Series, Dragon Quest XI
Genre: F/F, Flowers, Gay Male Character, Lesbian Character, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Skull Flowers, Spoilers for dundrasil so if you haven't gotten there yet, Sylvando Ships It, save this fic for later, snapdragons - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 18:40:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16838215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnbalancedCalm/pseuds/UnbalancedCalm
Summary: Despite living so close, Serena has never been to Sniflheim. Now that she's finally there with her sister, the Luminary, and other companions, she's really looking forward to what comes out of the trip!





	Comfort & Snapdragons

**Author's Note:**

> Woops! I uploaded this,,,, quite a bit late in the day but here it is!!  
> Also, even though it's kind of a stand alone fic, it's also somewhat of a sequel to my previous fic, Comfort for a Thief, so you might want to read that one first!!  
> also kinda surprised by how serena's only relationship tag is her friendship with Erik? so ig now she has a romance now yay

Serena, despite living so close, had never been to Sniflheim. She had never strayed far from Arboria until she and Veronica had set out to find the Luminary. Now that they've found and travelled with the Luminary (and some others, as well) for a while, they've finally made it to Sniflheim on their way to Arboria.

The air was wet and freezing. Serena shivered, she knew Sniflheim was cold but not that cold. It was so cold, in fact, the front gate to the city was frozen solid, though they concluded that the ice wasn't natural. Still, the snowstorms made it so the party had to set up camp next to the walls of the city, before they could make it to the back door.

Everyone seemed to be shivering and trying to get warm by the fire, with the exception of Erik, who seemed to be lost in thought ever since the party arrived. The Luminary had attempted to start conversations with the thief but to no avail. His face was expressionless. Usually he had a hint of a knowing smile on his face but now he seemed sad. Seeing Erik sad made Serena sad, and seeing Serena sad made Veronica overprotective, “Are you alright, Serena? Is it the cold?” 

Serena shook her head, “No, it's just that Erik has been quiet ever since we were in sight of Sniflheim. Do you think something's troubling him, Veronica?”

“I'm sure he's fine, Serena,” Veronica said, “Besides, it's nice that he's behaving for once.”

Serena only hoped that was the case.

_______

Serena woke with a start. She heard rustling in the tent. She sat up and saw that Erik was tossing and turning in his sleep. The noise also woke up the Luminary, who had been sleeping the closest, almost right next to him. She quietly went other to them as quietly as possible.

“Do you think we should wake him up?” Serena whispered. Eleven nodded and gently shook him awake.

Erik shot up immediately, his breath fast. “What do you want from me?!” he said with an anger in his voice that neither Serena nor Eleven had ever heard before from him. He seemed to come to his senses almost immediately, “Oh, it's just you two,” he seemed to soften at the sight of them, “Go back to sleep.”

“Are you okay?” Serena asked, “You were making quite a lot of noise in your sleep.” Eleven nodded along with her.

“Trust me, I'm fine,” Erik insisted, “It was just a regular nightmare, it didn't even make sense, anyway.” Serena looked up at the taller boy with sad, puppy dog eyes, then immediately hugged him. “What are you doing?” Erik asked, he seemed incredibly confused. Then Eleven decided to hug him as well. 

It took Erik a little bit to relax into the hug. He sat up in a more steady position to hold the other two up. “You two are just little leeches, aren't you?” he said, with just the smallest bit of affection in his voice. 

Just then, the three heard a tired voice come from Jade, “Will you three quiet down? Some of us are trying to get our beauty rest.” 

Serena flushed, “Oh, sorry Jade,” she whispered as she detached from Erik, “We didn't mean to disturb you at all.”

“It's quite alright, Serena,” Jade said, “Just make sure you get some sleep. I can tell we're going to have a big day tomorrow.”

Serena nodded, “You're right, sorry,” she flushed as she stood up quietly. Even in the darkness of the night, she could feel Erik's knowing eyes staring down at her back, which made her flush some more. 

Thankfully, Erik didn't say anything to or about Jade and decided to hold a quiet conversation with the Luminary. Serena wanted to join but she knew of their bond and didn't want to get in the way of anything just because she wanted to be included. So instead she went back to her spot next to Veronica and attempted to fall asleep.

_______

Jade was indeed correct about that day being big. The whole city was completely magically frozen over, the only one who was thawed was Queen Frysabel. She told the party to kill the witch who froze the place's monster, and on the way there everyone got separated in a snowstorm, only to rejoin to fight off the witch. Hendrik and his men got away and the witch ran off but now the Luminary was out cold in some random old man's cabin.

What really made everything worse was that Veronica kicked everyone out of the cabin so only she and the old man was allowed to take care of Eleven. Serena was almost completely sure Veronica only let the old man stay was because he owned the cabin.

Of course, everyone wasn't going to let that get them down. Jade sighed, “Well, I guess since it's midday and we're not allowed to see the Luminary, apparently, I'm going to have a look around. I heard there were pretty flowers that were native to Sniflheim.”

“Ah, like the ones that look like skulls?” Erik said. He seemed to know a little bit about everything about this place.

Sylvando clapped his hands together, “Ooh! You mean snapdragons! They're pretty little numbers, aren't they? They only look like skulls when they're dead, but they're absolutely wonderful when they're alive!”

“Snapdragons have some sorta magical properties, don't they?” Rab asked. 

It seemed as if everyone knew about flowers except for Serena, so she stayed quiet. Jade nodded, “Yes. They're quite eerie, yet beautiful and useful. I want to find some.”

“Ooh, I know just the place, darling! Follow me!” Sylvando announced excitedly and bounded off towards the snowy meadows. Serena silently wondered how flowers could even grow in that type of climate.

As Jade, Erik, and Serena followed Sylvando, Rab stayed behind because his “auld bones can't take it.” So Jade was walking with Sylvando and Erik and Serena followed behind at a slower pace. “So,” Erik said, as he looked down at Serena, directly in the eye, “Jade, huh?”

Serena flushed, “I don't know what you mean.”

“Don’t play dumb, you know exactly what I mean,” Erik said with a smirk on his face, “ _ Do you have romantic feelings for her _ ?”

Erik was making fun of her, wasn't he? That was the exact same thing she asked him back when they first hung out in Gallopolis! “I--” Serena looked around, but there was no baked goods cart to distract from the conversation. She sighed and gave up, “Maybe just a little bit.”

“You're really shooting for the stars with this one, aren't you? The Lost  _ Princess _ of Heliodor,” Erik said. He really put emphasis on the 'Princess’ part.

“Oh, shut it. It's not like you're any different. You're pining for the  _ Luminary _ , the hero of the ages,” Serena felt kind of mean after she said that.

But Erik just sighed, “Well, it looks like we have the same taste.”

“What is that taste, exactly?” Serena asked.

“Way out of our league.” The two were quiet for a long moment. That was way too real. Well, almost.

“I don't think the Luminary isn't way out of your league, Erik,” Serena gave him a genuine look, “You two are very close, and you've been through a lot together in a short time. I wouldn't be too surprised if he were pining after you as well.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course you'd think that. You're really naive, you know that?” Erik said. Serena was about to persist but he interrupted, “Besides, I'm pretty sure our resident Princess over here has a thing for you. She sounds just ever so slightly more flirtatious than usual when she talks with you.”

“I-- wait what do you mean by 'more flirtatious’?” Serena looked up at Erik with innocent eyes, “She doesn't sound like she's ever flirting with anyone?”

“Oh, please she's obviously doing just that,” Erik sighed with disbelief, “Honestly, next thing I know, you'll be asking me what a Puff-Puff is.”

Serena looked genuinely confused, “What is a Puff-Puff?”

The thief was saved from an awkward conversation by a certain eccentric squealing jester, “We found them~!” Sylvando announced.

Erik sighed with relief and he caught up with Jade and Sylvando. There was a small field of live snapdragons. Jade crossed her arms, “Well, I'm a little bit disappointed. I thought they'd look a little bit more like skulls.”

Serena, on the other hand, clapped her hands together in delight, “Oh, they're just beautiful!”

Jade looked at Serena and smiled, “Yeah, I guess they really do look beautiful, huh?”

_______

Later, when the Luminary had woken up and the party was on their way to the Royal Library with the old man, Snorri, they decided to stop for the night at a campfire. Serena was sat next to the fire, idly plucking at her harp while Veronica chattered. From the corner of her eye, Serena noticed Jade draw near. In her hand there was a small bunch of snapdragons. 

“Hello Serena,” Jade said as she stopped next to her, “These are for you.” She handed her the bundle of snapdragons, “I had some leftover, so I thought you might like them.”

Serena gently placed her harp down on the ground next to her and sheepishly took the flowers from Jade's soft hands. She held them close to her chest, “Thank you Jade, I'll be sure to keep these as safe as possible!” Serena smiled a soft smile up at the elegant woman.

“Do as you wish with them,” Jade stood there for a silent moment, “Well, see you tomorrow, then,” she said as she did a small wave and went back to her usual spot next to Rab. 

There wasn't much time for Serena to think about the interaction before Sylvando slid up beside her, “You know what those flowers mean, don't you?” As Serena shook her head Sylvando gasped dramatically, “Oh,  _ honey _ . Well, snapdragons are symbols of grace and inner strength and back in the old times, in the Age of Heroes, they used them to send letters of love. Not only that, but snapdragons can be used as charms against falsehoods.”

Serena examined the bundle more thoroughly. Could all of that meaning be stored in just a plant? She always just assumed that flowers of all kind just meant love of different kinds. 

But could that meaning really be true for her?


End file.
